Clinical Microbiology Flashcards
(172 cards)
Size range of bacteria
0.5um - 5um
Size range of viruses
20nm - 400nm
Size range of fungi
2um - 50um (for yeast and hyphae)
Size range of parasites
4um - 200um (for ova and cysts, but much larger for adult parasites)
What is pathogenesis?
How an infectious organism causes disease
What is epidemiology?
The study of the distribution and determinants of disease
What are vaccinations?
They stimulate an immune response to help protect the human body from infectious disease
What are antimicrobial agents?
A chemical that has properties which inhibit the growth of, or are lethal to bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites
What are some common infections?
- Septicaemia
- UTIs
- Gastroenteritis
- Genital infections, including STDs
- Mucosa and soft tissue infections, wound infection
- Upper respiratory infection, sore throat, conjunctivitis, otitis media
- Meningitis
- Lower respiratory tract infection
Gram positive organisms:
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Streptococcus pyogenes
- Streptococcus pneumoniae
- Clostridium difficile
Gram negative organisms:
- Escherichia coli
- Haemophilus influenzae
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Neisseria gonorrhoea
- Neisseria meningitidis
- Chlamydia trachomatis
- Campylobacter spp
Viruses organisms:
- Corona virus
- Influenza A
- HIV
- RSV
- Norovirus/Rotavirus
Fungi/Yeast organisms:
- Candida albicans
- Dermatophyte fungi
- Aspergillus fumigatus
Mycobacteria organisms:
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Laboratory methods for diagnosis:
- Microscopy
- Agar culture and enrichment
- Tissue culture
- Immunoassays
- Nucleic acid amplification tests
- Nucleic acid sequencing
What component of a prokaryote determines the gram stain reaction?
Bacterial cell wall
What colour is gram positive organisms?
Purple (thick layer)
What colour is gram negative organisms?
Pink (thin layer)
Process in which bacteria divides
Binary fission (20 minutes)
Elements essential for bacterial growth:
Carbon
Hydrogen
Sulphur
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Potassium
What are peptones?
It is a protein digest - they contain essential components of bacterial culture media
For how long and at what temperature should the agar medium be heated at?
Autoclave for 15 mins at 121 celcius
How many types of culture media are there?
6
What is non-selective agar?
It is a solidified medium, has nutrients to grow a wide range of bacteria but there’s nothing in it that selects a particular type of organism